# How to Restore an S3 Backup Locally and Vice Versa

1\. Pull all the backup files from S3 and copy them to MA plus all the leaf nodes.

2\. Rename the files to match the local backup naming convention. To convert a full backup taken directly in S3 to the on-disk format you need to append `.backup` after the databasename\_ordinal for files excluding `.manifest` and `BACKUP_COMPLETE`.

So snapshot filenames go from `testing_7` to `testing_7.backup` And columnar blobs go from `testing_7.columns0.tar` to `testing_7.backup_columns0.tar`.

Change directory into the backup folder, execute the following two commands to change the file names. Execute the same on all the leaf nodes backup folders. *Command 1:*

```shell
for file in *[0-9]; do mv "$file" "$(basename "$file").backup"; done;
```

*Command 2:*

```shell
find . ! -name '*.backup' ! -name '*.manifest' ! -name 'BACKUP_COMPLETE' ! -name '*.' -exec bash -c 'mv $0 $0.backup' {} \; 
```

The folder name is irrelevant for local backups.

3\. After renaming the files, restore the backup like a regular local backup.

For example:

```sql
RESTORE DATABASE testing FROM "/ebs/memsql/s3_test_backup/testing.backup";
```

Ensure permissions are given to access the files and folders.

If you want to convert a local backup to S3 you would reverse this process with an additional step of ensuring the containing folder/subobject/object prefix is `databasename.backup`

***

Modified at: May 12, 2026

Source: [/db/v9.1/manage-data/back-up-and-restore-data/how-to-restore-an-s-3-backup-locally-and-vice-versa/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/manage-data/back-up-and-restore-data/how-to-restore-an-s-3-backup-locally-and-vice-versa/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)